


This Dark and Twisty Road

by a_lanart



Series: Myth and Magic [5]
Category: Highlander: The Series, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Community: consci_fan_mo, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-10
Updated: 2011-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-27 04:07:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_lanart/pseuds/a_lanart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gaius has some unwelcome news</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Dark and Twisty Road

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer** : Gaius belongs to the BBC; Panzer/Davis own their concept of immortality, Darius and Methos.  
> Blaise belongs to me  
> Title from the song by Abney Park

~*~

This Dark and Twisty Road

*

The last strap on his pack was a struggle to fasten, but at last Gaius managed it. He raised his head from the task to find Blaise still motionless by the fire, staring into space; he didn't appear to have moved at all during Gaius' flurry of activity. Gaius set the pack aside and approached; Blaise did not appear to notice him.

"Blaise?" Gaius knelt, stretched out a hand. "Master Blaise?" He almost jumped when Blaise turned his head.

"Your master no longer, Gaius."

"What do you mean?"

"I am not returning to Paris with you; I cannot."

"But… but why? There is so much I can still learn from you!"

"Maybe, but you came here to learn from Darius; it is time to do that. As for me… well, I think it is time for the Mad Man of the Mountain to become the Mad Man of the Forest; it is… difficult… for me to be abroad in the world. Here, I have some measure of peace."

"The Sight?"

Blaise nodded. "So many futures swirl around you, Gaius and I am too close. If I remain with you I fear I may lose myself."

"Then you *must* stay here. I would not be able to forgive myself if something happened to you because of me, even indirectly." Gaius sat back on his heels and rubbed his stinging eyes. "I will miss you."

"And I you. You have been like a son to me and I will always treasure that."

"Blaise…" Gaius sniffed, he couldn't say any more, couldn't tell Blaise how he'd been more than just a teacher, had been like a second father, how much he'd come to respect and admire and even love him; the words stuck in his throat. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying not to cry.

"Gaius."

Gaius shook his head, not wanting to look at Blaise or he really would cry.

"Come here, Gaius…" It was barely more than a whisper. Gaius still didn't open his eyes but he scrambled the short distance toward Blaise by touch alone and landed straight in his arms. Blaise hugged him tight and Gaius could hold back his tears no longer. He burrowed into Blaise's chest and felt a gentle hand stroke his hair, continuing to do so after his tears had subsided. Gaius let himself remain there a while longer; the sound of Blaise's heartbeat under his ear was comforting. Eventually he moved back, scrubbing the tears from his face.

"Sorry," he said.

"Nothing to be sorry about; you should never be ashamed of your tears, they prove you are human." Gaius raised his head at that and noticed that Blaise's dark eyes were also suspiciously bright; he nodded his understanding. "I do have something for you, a parting gift if you like." Blaise continued and reached for a cloth wrapped bundle near his feet that Gaius had not noticed. "I am not certain how much of this you will be able to put into practice for yourself but knowledge is always useful." He passed the bundle to Gaius.

As Gaius carefully removed the wrapping the package was revealed as a book – and what a book! The cover was heavy, tooled leather with brass fittings, made to last and inside… Gaius turned a few pages; he recognised some of his own drawings by the entries on herbs and Blaise's on others but the majority of the book appeared to be spells and incantations.

"I can't take this; I don't have the gift to make use of it the way it deserves," said Gaius.

Blaise smiled at him.

"Neither do I, beyond having the Sight, but it was entrusted to me with the promise that I would know into whose hands it should be placed, and when. You might not be the ultimate owner of the book but you are the person with whom it belongs at present and now is the right time for you to have it."

"Then I shall accept it, and gladly. How will I know when to pass it on? I don't have the Sight."

"You'll know; you won't need the Sight for that."

"I hope I do. I…" Gaius looked at the book in his hands, then back up at Blaise. "Thank you; I will try to be worthy of your trust."

"That is all I could wish for." Blaise leaned over and picked up the cloth that had wrapped the book, Gaius took it from him with an unsteady smile and began to wrap the book up again though he wondered how he was going to transport it safely; his pack was full. "Use my pack; I won't be needing it in the foreseeable future," said Blaise.

Gaius snorted, to most that was just a turn of phrase but when spoken by Blaise it had the ring of certainty and truth. The pack was already laid out, for Gaius' use and not for Blaise as Gaius had assumed; he carefully laid the book inside. Packs ready, he stood to leave, unsure about what else to say.

"Give me a moment, Gaius and I shall follow you shortly. I won't let you go without saying goodbye." Gaius nodded and took his leave, glancing back over his shoulder as he stepped through the door. Blaise's head was bent and his eyes closed; Gaius gave him his privacy and left.

*

With heavy heart, Gaius carried his packs over to where the horses were being saddled; only two, he noticed but that meant Methos at least was returning with him. Methos didn't pause in his task but did spare Gaius a glance over his shoulder.

"He told you, then?"

"Yes," mumbled Gaius.

"Don't be too hard on Blaise. It's not easy having the Sight and it's even less so for an immortal; your own life can become tangled up in what you See and the longer you live the worse it gets. Sometimes the only options to enable a seer to keep their sanity are seclusion or death."

Gaius clutched at his packs when something he'd never even considered hit him an arrow in the dark. "Would his Sight be passed on if…" He couldn't finish the sentence but Methos knew what he meant.

"Someone took his Quickening? Not from what I've heard. Don't forget, many parts of Brocéliande are Holy Ground; Blaise will be safe from other immortals while he is here."

"Besides, I hear there is a cave with a holy spring that needs a Guardian." Blaise's voice seemed to appear from nowhere and Gaius dropped his packs with an undignified squeak; he hadn't heard Blaise approach. Methos, damn his immortal hide, hid a grin against the flank of the horse. Blaise bent, picked up the packs and passed them back to Gaius. "As you might have noticed, I am quite fond of caves," he said with a warm smile. Gaius returned the smile, even if it did feel a little shaky on his face.

"You will be well?" he asked.

"I will be well," Blaise replied, with a firm nod. "And as for you…" Blaise turned toward Methos and swatted him across the shoulder. It was Gaius' turn to hide a grin against his horse as he busied himself with the task of tying his packs to the saddle. "Don't you be filling Gaius' head with tales. If I hear that you've spirited him off in search of the lost library of Alexandria…"

"It's not lost, I know exactly where it is."

"Methos!"

"Don't worry, Blaise. I'll return him safe and sound to Darius; you'd both be after me if I didn't." There was a quick flash of a shared smile between them, and then Methos swung himself up onto his horse. Gaius followed suit, albeit less gracefully, but luckily his horse was placid enough not to take exception to his lack of riding skill.  
Blaise stood between them, a hand on each of their reins.

"Take care, Gaius. Don't believe everything the old man tells you." Blaise let go of the reins and it seemed that was all he was going to say. Gaius was almost ready to move when Blaise patted the neck of Methos' horse and stepped back. "Thank you, old friend," he said. Methos merely nodded and nudged his horse into a walk; Gaius had no option but to follow. He looked back once, but Blaise was indistinct against the trees, as if he were already part of the forest. There was a flash of lightness – a raised hand, perhaps – and then he was gone. Gaius turned his head and resolutely rode forward, into his future, and wondered if he were ready to face whatever it would bring; only time would tell.

**Author's Note:**

> The book Blaise gives to Gaius is the same one Gaius gives to Merlin in S1 ep 1...


End file.
